A Success!

The benefit for my dad went really well. We had a lot of people come eat and a lot of people that bought raffle tickets and baked goods. It warmed my heart to see how much everyone cares. I appreciate all the help that we received at the benefit from my aunts Celeste, Mary and Meg. You are all awesome and we love you. Uncle David, Joe and Kevin, we appreciate all you did. I couldn't be happier with how things turned out.

The scary news is that my dad is having a major surgery on Monday. Without this procedure he will definitely die. He is not really strong enough to have this surgery, but it's his only hope. It is called the Whipple Procedure. You can google it and get a whole lot of info. Be careful though, some images aren't for the squeamish. I saw at least one image of the actual surgery.

We need prayers. I am not sure dad will make it through this surgery. The doctors have said he might not. We can only pray that this surgery is the solution and hopefully we'll finally know what it is that is making him so sick. We know for a fact now there is a mass on his pancreas. We just do not know for sure what it is.

Thanks for all the love, support and prayers, donations and just everything....thank you.

Gabbi and Her Toddler Bed

If you remember, a couple of months back Gabbi started jumping out of her crib. She was not yet two, though close to it and we had no choice but to buy her a toddler bed. That bed was mostly a waste until now. She would not sleep in her room at all. She cried, screamed, hyperventilated, etc. So she inevitably ended up in my bed. My poor hubby was kicked to the couch for quite awhile.

Nights happen to be the favorite time of day for my hubby and myself. We are so used to going to bed at the same time and using that time at the end of the day when the kids are all in bed for each other. We look forward to that. Gabbi took it. She would even come into the bedroom with me and when daddy started to walk in to kiss us goodnight or whatever she would close the door on him and say "Bye daddy!"

So it was time to change things. I love my girly. I love having her as my little cuddle bug. However I wanted my hubby time back too. So I decided to start small. Nap time. That's where we would start. I put her in her little toddler bed and yes she cried. I rubbed her head and sang her some lullabies then told her firmly to stay. I told her I would be back and repeated the word nap. (Which she has learned at daycare) Surprisingly she fell asleep within 10 minutes. Now, 3 days later she is napping in her bed and sleeping in her own room. We temporarily have put a cot in there for her big sister Lexi. This helps tremendously. She isn't so scared and Lexi likes doing it anyway. She even has crawled into bed with Lexi a couple of times. I don't mind so much. I just want Gabbi used to her room, used to her bed and eventually going to sleep with no trouble. We are well on our way.

Now about that potty training thing......to be continued.



Reminder if you want to donate to my dad's benefit costs (which is too much for my sisters and myself at this time of year) please click the paypal button here:

or if you are a facebook friend who cannot see the button just click here: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=10552638

Benefit Costs

This Saturday is the Benefit for my dad. We still do not have all the supplies needed. We are not sure how big or small the turnout will be. What I do know is we do not yet have everything needed. We desperately need a few items and time is running short. If you would like to donate even a couple of dollars toward the cost of the benefit ONLY please click the paypal button below:

This will help reduce the cost of the benefit itself for my sisters and myself. Right now especially with Christmas money is very tight. My dad needs this benefit though. He will most likely need constant medical care for the rest of his life at this point. I think we are all coming to terms with this. He has copays and deductibles and a lot of other regular bills that my mom is now having to deal with paying. He cannot help anymore. So we want to just let them worry about ONE thing and that is getting dad better. I'll make sure to get a lot of pictures from the benefit and post them. I am pretty excited. If you want to donate TO my dad directly please send your donation to The John Hamilton Benefit Fund at the State Bank of Speer in Speer, Illinois. E-mail me directly for a specific address.

Finals Week!

It is a crazy week for me. It's finals this week. I have a Statistics final, Criminology, Philosophy, English/Composition II final, and I already finished my Psychology final. Wednesday I have two of them, Thursday is my final one and guess what? I am DONE with this semester and DONE with every single prerequisite.

I really have come a long way. It seems I have been at the prerequisites for a long time. I started back at college in the fall of 2005. I went all the way until the end of my spring 2007 semester. I was sick and that's when I got diagnosed. I did not go back and finish up until this Fall. I did not think I would get accepted into the nursing college I applied to on my first try. I had heard about being on a waiting list for long periods of time. I was shocked when I got my acceptance letter. I knew there was a ton to do. When I went to set up my classes, I took summer classes and fall classes to get it all done. The counselor at the college did not think I could handle the work load. Guess what? It was hard but I've done it.

Even with my dad being sick and all that's gone I have managed. I got a B in my Psychology class but you know, I'll take it. It's not the A I wanted but with all that has gone on I don't think it's too bad. I had to miss a few classes to be at the hospital with dad. Not to mention a few test dates I missed and had to make up. It threw me way off. I know my dad would not want me to fail out of college because he got sick. I think my dad was always proud of me for going back to school and working hard to becoming a nurse. He has always been proud of my sister who is also a nurse.

I am excited. I have much to do though! I am very anxious about it all. I am ready for this week to end and finals to be over. I get ONE MONTH off!!! My birthday is coming up too. I have one of those Christmas birthdays. December 29th to be exact. I am ready for a relaxing holiday with my family.

Dad Update

I spent some time with my dad tonight. He's pretty sick obviously. Tonight he wasn't feeling well at all. His stomach has been really hurting him. He's been pretty confused. He was leaning really hard to the right today for some reason so we became concerned. He seems better now though. I spent some time talking to him and though he is very quiet he is making sense to me. He thinks the staples in his head from his surgery though is an injury from the civil war. He does not think it all the time. He only does this when he gets really confused.

I talked to him and he was even joking around with me. He would honestly pretend to die. Ok I know this sounds sick but you have to know my dad. He thinks it's hilarious. He'll make himself twitch a little, shake, and then stick his tongue out....totally acting like a goof ball. I love it though. He's being his goofy old self. He put his hand on my face and held it there. He did it to my sister Donna too. He was being so loving. I'll be back to see him tomorrow. He's back at the hospital right now for those who want to know. He went back tonight.

The benefit is still on for Saturday the 19th. So to those readers who live around here and can make it, we would love to see you there!